The Father's Day Index 2013: Dad’s Value Is Up!

Dads: Here’s one more reason to put your feet up and celebrate yourself this Father’s Day: Your household value is up from last year.

Insure.com’s 2013 Father’s Day Index puts Dad's household tasks at $23,344 a year, up from last year's $20,248. The increase is largely due to higher mean hourly wages for drivers, teachers, coaches and plumbers, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The index is a look at annual salaries for the traditional kinds of things dads have done for generations, from squashing spiders to grilling burgers. It does not include any salary Dad might earn from a job outside the house.

What dads say
If Dad could cut himself a check for all the work he does around the house, he'd probably pay himself a larger amount than Mom would.

In our survey we asked dads to think about what they do around the house and estimate how much they'd have to pay someone else to do it all for a year.

Moms will likely feel slighted this year. Although Mom’s 2013 value is higher than Dad’s at just under $60,000, mothers have been seeing their value drop every year.

Seeing your value
Figuring out how much it would cost to replace your own household contributor is an important step in determining how much life insurance to buy. Besides taking into account a salary that a breadwinner brings in, you also have to consider the other ways a parent contributes. That's why it's important to buy life insurance for both parents, even if one is a stay-at-home mom or dad and doesn't earn an income.

Of the traditional tasks on the Father's Day Index, dads we surveyed said helping with homework, barbecuing or cooking and driving took up most of their domestic-duty time each week.

If you want to ruin your dad's Father's Day, ask him to fix the plumbing or move some furniture -- those are likely his least favorite jobs around the house. When asked about their favorite jobs around the house, fathers ranked them this way:

Barbecuing/cooking: 22 percent

Helping with homework: 17 percent

Driving: 14 percent

Coaching a team: 9 percent

Assembly of toys, bookshelves, etc.: 9 percent

Fixing broken things around the house: 6 percent

Mowing the lawn, landscaping, snow removal: 5 percent

Doing family finances: 5 percent

Car maintenance; 4 percent

Being a scout leader: 3 percent

Pest removal (spiders, gross bugs): 3 percent

Fixing plumbing: 2 percent

Moving furniture: 2 percent

If fathers could pay someone to do all their household tasks, many say they’d likely want to spend the extra time with their families. In the survey, 36 percent of men chose this as the most likely activity that would take up his free time. Other top responses, in order of popularity, were exercising or playing sports, working, doing things on the computer, traveling or visiting museums, parks or historical sites, watching TV or movies or going to school.

The Father's Day Index 2013

Dad job

BLS occupation

Hours per week

Weeks per year

Mean hourlywage

Annual Dad value

Barbecuing/cooking

Cooks

3

52

$10.08

$1,571.70

Driving

Taxi drivers and chauffeurs

9

52

$14.30

$6,692.40

Helping with homework

Other teachers and instructors

10

40

$22.93

$9,170.00

Family finances

Accountants and auditors

0.5

52

$33.75

$877.50

Mowing the lawn, landscaping, snow removal

Grounds Maintenance Workers

2

52

$11.30

$1,175.20

Moving furniture

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

2

3

$12.98

$77.85

Car maintenance

Automotive service technicians and mechanics

2

10

$17.60

$352.00

Coaching a team

Athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers

4

10

$25.45

$1,018.00

Scout leader

Recreation and fitness workers

5

10

$16.88

$843.75

Assembly of toys, bookshelves, etc.

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

3

10

$15.15

$454.50

Pest removal (spiders, gross bugs)

Pest control workers

1

4

$14.25

$57.00

Handyman

Maintenance and repair workers, general

8

6

$18.30

$878.40

Plumber

Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

2

3

$29.20

$175.20

Total: $23,343.50

Methodology
“Dad’s value” is based on occupational wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and does not include a salary from work outside the home.

For mothers’ and fathers’ views on household tasks, Insure.com commissioned a survey of 500 men and 500 women with children age 12 and under living at home. The online-panel survey was fielded in April 2013.